


First Day Out

by EmeryldLuk



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Business man, F/M, Flirting, Marvel Universe, News Media, Winged Tony Stark, Young Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:34:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22889287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeryldLuk/pseuds/EmeryldLuk
Summary: After being hidden from the world by his parents, due to developing a pair of gray and white wings growing out of his back,Tony takes his first steps into the public eye by taking over his father's business. He makes a formal announcement to the press and familiarizes himself with his new company.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	First Day Out

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and leaned on the edge of the sink, trying to forget the feeling of how his hands shook if he let go. His thoughts raced, darting over worries like a slithering snake. Questions rose as fast as they fell. How would they react? Would he mess up, stumbling over the words he was supposed to say? Would this tank stocks? With all the hate in the world, that would be the biggest stumbling block of all.

“Tony?”

He looked up, gazing into the reflection of his glittering brown eyes.

“Tony?”

He let go of the sink and ran his shaky hands through his soft, brown hair.

“Tony!”

“Coming,” he yelled back. He took another deep breath and let it out slow. “You got this,” he told himself. “You’re Tony Stark, son of Howard Stark. You’re going to blow them away.”

“Tony, come on. You’ve got a speech to make.”

“I said I’m coming,” He opened the bathroom door. “No need to rush, Jarvis.”

Jarvis raised an eyebrow. “Of course, Sir. Are you well?”

“Great,” Tony lied through a grin. “They won’t know what hit them.”

“Very good. The car is waiting out front.” Jarvis reached up and straightened Tony’s tie. Tony brushed him off, striding down the stairs. Jarvis kept pace behind him. “Should be a good crowd. People will be wanting to see you properly.”

“After my parents hid me away from the world,” Tony remarked. “No doubt. I got this, Jarvis. Not my first time in front of a crowd.”

Tony threw the doors open, moving down the patterned front walk to the circle driveway where the black hummer waited. Jarvis opened the car door, letting Tony climb in before walking around to the other side to get in.

“It’ll be your first time like this, Sir.”

Tony touched his tie before he could stop himself. “Maybe. I still got this.”

“Very good. You know what you’re going to say?”

Tony shrugged. “Start simple, make a couple charming jokes, make some promises for the future. Do what I do best and make a statement.”

“Sounds good.” The truck ran over a bump in the road. A small fluffy, gray feather landed in Tony’s lap. He brushed it onto the floor and shifted.

Tony asked, “You really think everyone will be there?”

“Word is good.”

“Good, good.” Tony trailed off, eyes out the window as the truck turned a corner and they could see the crowd waiting in front of Stark Industries. 

“This is it,” Jarvis said.

Tony checked his tie. The door opened, held by security in black suits. Tony leaned out, putting on his best smile and stepped out to flashing cameras. As he straightened, he furled wings. A pair of exquisite wings in mottled gray and white with red flexed as naturally as his arms, curling forward around his body before settling in a relaxed position behind his shoulders. Lights flashed more somehow.

Tony strode through the crowd. More than one hand reached out for that privilege of touching at least one feather. The paparazzi clambered over each other for the best angle and the best picture of the reclusive billionaire heir. The initial questions shouted about Tony’s feelings after the death of his parents faded into awed shock and anticipation as he climbed up to the podium and microphones.

He put his hands on either side of the podium and faced the crowd. For a second, the flashing of the lights paralized him. He swallowed hard, forcing away the nerves.

“Thank you for coming, today,” Tony began. “My parents left a mark on the world. A mark we will all remember for years to come. Unless I can make my mark bigger.” He grinned and a few chuckles could be heard from the crowd.

“My father made a legacy in his name. A legacy I plan to build on now that he’s gone. Most of you will be wondering, what can I do? I’ve been holed up at home, hidden from the cameras of the world. I can’t tell you yet. There’s plenty for me to still learn, but know that I am not going to be the kind of leader that pushes papers around and makes empty promises. 

“This company has been building itself upward from the ground like my father envisioned it. That changes now. I am not my father. I see the future in the clouds. We don’t need to build one brick at a time to get there. We simply need to spread our wings and fly.”

He lifted his hands, wings spreading outward a few feet. Lights flashed as more photos were taken. Tony lowered his hands and lifted his chin.

“Questions?”

Hands shot into the air, voices rose in desperation to be heard. Tony pointed to a random reporter.

“Is your condition the result of illegal experimentation or a natural mutation?” the reporter asked.

“Natural as my perfect brown hair. Next.” Tony picked out another raised hand.

“Did your father’s death have anything to do with your mutation?”

Tony forced out a smile but his wings fluttered, shedding a couple of feathers on the pavement. “My parents died in a car crash. There is no connection. Next.”

“How long have you been like this?”

“Since I was eleven. I woke up one day with a huge itch. My parents called in our doctor and turned out I had wings growing out of my back. It was decided then, to protect me, that I should be removed from the spotlight. Had them ever since. Next.”

“Do you feel any anger towards your parents for isolating you from society?”

Tony wanted to groan at the top of his lungs. “Does anyone want to ask me about my plans for the company?” He pointed to another hand.

“What do you have to say about recent mutant hate crime?”

Tony let out the smallest of sighs. “Nothing. That will be all. Thank you.” He stepped back from the podium and walked into the building, folding his wings neatly behind his back. Security made sure to close the doors and block the media from following. Jarvis fell into place at Tony’s side with a small smirk.

“Very good. I did like the touch of spreading your wings.”

“Thank you. Mr. Stane, we spoke on the phone.” Tony held out his hand to the beefy man in a crisp suit that approached them. Obadiah Stane raised pencil thin eyebrows, eyes drifting obviously over Tony’s wings.

“Yes, yes we did.” Obadiah shakes Tony’s hand and steps back. “I knew Howard was hiding something, but I thought it was a crippling injury or disfigurement not- well, not this. Welcome.”

“As I understand, some would see it as a crippling injury,” Tony quipped, looking around. “I hope this won’t cause any problems.”

Obadiah shook his head in haste. “No, no. Of course not. I’m merely surprised. Would you like to see your office?”

“Maybe later. I’d like a tour first. Let the workers see me.”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely. Oh, and a coffee. Cream and sugar.”

Obadiah nodded and sent the nearby desk clerk off for a cup of coffee. “If you’ll follow me, this way we have our designs in progress.”

Tony followed Obadiah through a pair of double doors with electronic locks. Obadiah continued talking, explaining the projects in progress as Tony viewed artists at work, crafters and engineers. Workers would look up and double take, dropping pencils and staring before meeting his eyes and dropping their gaze in shame.

“What’s this project?” Tony asked, pointing to a space Obadiah looked ready to skip. Obadiah puffed up his chest.

“Nothing much. Experimental energy production. Unfortunately, the materials needed are too hard to come by so it’ll probably get dropped at the next board meeting.”

“Send me the details? I’d love to take a closer look.”

“Of course.” Obadiah paused as the clerk came up to them with a steaming cup and gave it to Tony.

“Thank you,” Tony told the clerk and took a sip. He took another look at the energy generation designs. “Good stuff. What’s through there?”

Through the next pair of doors they saw a shooting range and several containment cells.

“Here, we test our products. Rifles, hand guns, targeting systems. Anything that would cause bigger booms goes out to our outdoor ranges.”

Tony kept walking, his eyes cast over the shooting range. The techs inside were all hyper focused, not even looking up at them. A frantic-faced woman in a lab coat rushed around the corner and slammed right into Tony. His foot slipped, but his wings opened on reflex, buffeting Jarvis to the side as he balanced out. He lifted the woman up with an arm looped around her waist and a hand on her back. The papers she had been carrying fluttered over the floor.

“You alright?” Tony asked. She flushed red up to her eyeballs and quickly attempted to neaten herself.

“Fine. Fine. Sorry, I should have been paying more attention,” she babbled.

Obadiah frowned. “Ms. O’neil, It hardly does any good to be running around like a crazy woman.”

Tony waved Obadiah down. “Surely, it’s alright, Mr. Stane. No one was hurt. Jarvis, help the lady with her papers?”

“Of course, Mr. Stark,” Jarvis agreed with a small bow.

The woman gasped, covering her mouth with one hand. “You’re Tony Stark.”

“The one and only.” Tony smiled and delicately lifted her free hand to his lips. “And who might you be?”

She pulled her hand back, even redder in the face. “Claire. Claire O'neil.”

“I look forward to working with you, Claire.”

Tony let her fingers drop and moved on down the hallway. She stood there, flustered until Jarvis handed her papers back.

“I was thinking we might do more work in the renewable energy sector,” Tony told Obadiah as they walked to the elevator. “Had a few ideas over the past couple years and it’d be nice to flesh them out in a proper lab.”

“Sounds promising. Why don’t we head up to the office now and get you settled in?”

The elevator dinged and opened. Tony stepped inside. “Sure.” He took a drink of his coffee. “I should mention, I need my space. My office better not be some cramped closet.”

Obadiah chuckled. “A closet? Heaven’s no.” He scanned his badge and hit the top button. “Corner suite. Used to be your father’s.”

The elevator closed with all three of them inside and ground upward to the fifth floor. Tony lifted his coffee to his lips again.

The elevator came to a halt, opening onto a proper office layout with a handful of cubicles directly in front of the doors. Obadiah stepped out, motioning for them to head to the left. Heads bent at work rose to stare.

“Holy-” The secretary squeaked before catching herself. “So, sorry. Are those real?”

“Do you want to check for yourself?” Tony asked with a sly smile. When she nodded fiercely, he turned enough to extend one wing out to her over her desk. Obadiah rolled his eyes and walked on. She stroked his feathers, awestruck.

“They’re so soft. And pretty like a hawk.”

“Not as pretty as you.”

She fluttered her eyelashes. “Why thank you.”

“Tony,” Obadiah barked.

Tony winked. “I’ll be back.”

Obadiah opened the door he stood in front of and waved Tony through. “Do you really think you have time to flirt with all the pretty girls?”

“Watch me.” Tony strode straight to the windows and stretched experimentally. His wingtips brushed the walls. “It’ll do, but bigger next time.”

“Something to remember. There’s a board meeting tomorrow. I figured you could use today to familiarize yourself with the projects on hand.”

Tony ran his fingers over the desk. He ignored the desk chair and sat on the corner of the desk. “I will certainly get on that. Thank you, Mr. Stane.”

“Please, call me Obadiah. We’re business partners now.”

“Obadiah. I look forward to working with you. Jarvis, could you rustle up some more appropriate furniture for me?”

Jarvis nodded. “It would be my pleasure. Will you be needing anything else?”

“Not at the moment. Oh, wait, send that secretary on your way out.”

Jarvis agreed and left. Obadiah smirked.

“You certainly are comfortable.” he remarked, “Take after your father like that.”

“Good. I don’t need anyone thinking I’m soft from hiding away all these years. Ah, yes, come in please.” Tony waved in the secretary.

Obadiah smiled and backed up. “Let me know if you need anything, Tony.”

“Will do.” Tony waved him out and moved to sit on the front of the desk. “Now, I’d like to start with your name.”


End file.
